Walk, Ride, and Roll Our Way to Thriving Communities!
Wisconsin Active Together starts 2019 by recognizing fourteen new communities from across the state for their efforts to promote active lifestyles and for their pledge to do more–because in addition to celebrating accomplishments, communities can make resolutions to foster health too! Where we live impacts our wellness and the newly named Wisconsin Active Together Communities, now reaching 1.4 million Wisconsinites across the state, know that even small changes in the landscape and in promoting physical activity can add up to creating lasting changes for everyone’s benefit. And your community can now also apply to be recognized in 2019 for its commitment to advancing strategies for safe places to walk, bike, and be active while getting connected to resources, training, and a peer network of experts.
Created and supported by statewide organizations, networks, and agencies, Wisconsin Active Together is proud to announce the following newly named Wisconsin Active Together Communities. Get to know them through their community profiles at WIActiveTogether.org:
• East Central Wisconsin; East Central Regional Planning Commission
• Fitchburg; Bike Fitchburg
• Ft. Atkinson; Fort Healthy Wellness Coalition
• Greater Green Bay/Brown County; Wello
• Jackson County; Jackson In Action
• Manitowoc County; Healthiest Manitowoc County
• Middleton; City of Middleton
• Oregon; Oregon Area Chamber of Commerce
• Sheboygan; Mayor’s Neighborhood Leadership Cabinet
• Sun Prairie; Sun Prairie Moves, Inc.
• Cambridge Area Community; Cambridge Wellness Collaborative
• Verona; Verona Common Council and the Verona Chamber of Commerce
• Walworth County; Walworth County Healthy Eating Active Living
• Whitewater; City of Whitewater
“It’s an opportunity to work locally while being part of something larger happening across the state,” Jen Walker, healthTIDE Active Communities team lead and Wisconsin Active Communities Alliance coordinator said. “We want to celebrate local progress in promoting opportunities to increase physical activity, community design that provides new recreational spaces, and work that makes it easier for residents to walk and bike more.”
So for 2019, let’s work to make Wisconsin Active Together! Interested in applying, being recognized, and getting peer support? Coalitions at the regional, county, city, even neighborhood level are encouraged to learn more at WIActiveTogether.org. Once selected, you will be recognized for progress and commitment to making it easier to walk, bike, and be active while also getting support to work towards greater policy change to foster health so their communities can thrive. Apply today!
“The Wisconsin Active Together Application is easy to fill out and gives you a comprehensive scorecard around walking, biking, and being active,” Aaron Ruff, Public Health Educator at Marathon County Health Department in Wausau. “And we’re going to be able to use the application to look at what efforts we can improve to make life better for residents in our city.”
The statewide partners who have co-developed and/or support the Wisconsin Active Together campaign include healthTIDE, the League of Wisconsin Municipalities, the Wisconsin Active Communities Alliance (WACA), the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS), the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR), the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) and Main Street Program, the YMCA, 1000 Friends of Wisconsin, Rural Wisconsin Health Cooperative, the Wisconsin Bicycle Federation, and the American Planning Association Wisconsin Chapter. For a complete list, visit WIActiveTogether.org.